We asked 500 thought leaders what they actually wanted. Then we built it.

"What if the difference between an ordinary life and an extraordinary one comes down to a single decision: how big you're willing to think?"

Aaron Bare is a bestselling author, keynote speaker, and the Modern‑Day Madman behind the systems‑level work that became Extraordinary. He has spent decades working with founders, executives, and global organizations — facilitating leadership teams, building companies, and writing books that translate exponential thinking into how a team actually operates on a Tuesday.

His core argument is deceptively simple: most people shrink their thinking because they believe big visions require more effort. The opposite is true. When leaders pause, communicate clearly, and give others the confidence to lead, energy returns to the system. As AI accelerates automation and efficiency, the most valuable skill left is the most human one — connection. Creativity, storytelling, curiosity, and emotional awareness are the defining advantages of the next generation of leaders.

Aaron led the 500‑thought‑leader research that mapped the gap between thought leadership and the business it deserves, then designed and shipped the Agency stack — Custom GPT, website, CRM, AI dashboard — that closes it. Inside Extraordinary he runs the Coach and Agency engagements that compound the leaders he works with. He is the co‑author, with Forbes Shannon, of Exponential Theory — a WSJ #1 bestseller — and author of An Audacious Plan to Halt the Earth's Spin.

"I've been building platforms for people to connect all of my life. Welcome to the circus — or as I call it, the Forbit."

Forbes Shannon has been building platforms for people to connect his entire life — from the non‑profit he started at 14 pairing young‑adult volunteers with local agencies, to his honors‑thesis student comedy club Tempe Late Night, to Venture Cafe Phoenix, and now the Extraordinary Network. He is, by his own admission, the ring leader of the circus. Welcome to the Forbit.

Forbes built his early life around being "the guy with the story" until a brain injury ended hockey, scrambled language, and flattened his emotional range into two settings: happy and rage. He rebuilt himself the only way he could — one sentence at a time, learning how to feel by learning how to write. That recovery turned into a bigger identity shift: the rebrand from "Nick Shannon" (ego, awards, proving) to "Forbes" (questions, humility, curiosity).

The deeper thread of his work is communication as a human skill, not a personality trait. Most arguments aren't about what they're "about." Most people don't feel heard. Listening is rare even inside good relationships. Inside Extraordinary, Forbes runs the Studio, the Speakers Bureau, and the Podcast Guest Bureau — the relationships engine that turns membership into stages, episodes, and warm intros. He makes a clean case for a different kind of leadership: ask better questions, tell the truer story, and make people feel seen.

"Once you mix intuition with delirious ambition, the smallest moments in someone's life start telling the truest stories."

Christine Butler didn't begin her adult life chasing a career. She began it becoming a mother. While most people her age were starting college, she was raising a child, learning responsibility earlier than she ever expected. What started as survival eventually became purpose — being a mom didn't limit her ambition, it clarified it.

That clarity carried her through teaching, writing, and eventually ghostwriting books that help others see their own lives more clearly. Christine believes most people overlook the most meaningful parts of their own stories. Her work is about listening deeply, finding the overlooked moments, and turning chaos into something beautiful. Inside Extraordinary she runs the Writers Room and the Studio — extracting story signals, codifying language, and helping a leader sound like themselves on their best day.

Her focus has widened from helping children through education, to helping adults through storytelling, to helping mothers find their voice and influence in the world. The thesis is simple: the future of any country begins with the way we raise the next generation, and the future of any leader begins with the way they tell their own story. Through Syzygy Studio she has built brand and narrative systems for founders, authors, and category‑defining companies on three continents.